Apple Park Will Open to Employees in April

Guess what the name for Apple’s new headquarters in Cupertino? On Wednsday the company annouced in a statement that their new 175-acre compus, dubbed Apple Park, will open in April. The process of moving over 12,000 employees will take half a year to complete, and the construction of the buildings and parklands is scheduled to continue through the summer. More detailes are revealed in Apple’s Newsroom.

Employees from Cupertino, Santa Clara and Silcon Valley will move from existing headquarters and other offices to Apple Park for working. Here are what’s waiting for them: secure research and development facilities, a 100,000-square-foot fitness center, two miles of walking and running paths and more. Apple Park will even feature some areas open to the public, including a visitor center with an Apple Store and a cafe.

Apple Park is the last product from co-founder Steve Jobs, who died Oct. 5, 2011, and it is envisioned as a center for creativity and collaboration. Jobs compared the building to a “spaceship” when he proposed the development to the Cupertino City Council in 2011. The eminent leader took it as a place for the company’s employees to explore their potentials and to develop groundbreaking products. The complex was originally planned to open in 2015, but it took longer to finally build up the complex.

To honor his memory and enduring influence on Apple, the theater at Apple Park will be named the Steve Jobs Theater. Situated atop a hill and overlooking the main building, the 1,000-seat auditorium will be open late this year, and it is expected to be the preferred hosting venue for Apple’s middle-size press conference in future.

“Steve’s vision for Apple stretched far beyond his time with us. He intended Apple Park to be the home of innovation for generations to come,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s incumbent CEO. “The workspaces and parklands are designed to inspire our team as well as benefit the environment. We’ve achieved one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world and the campus will run entirely on renewable energy.”

Designed in collaboration with Foster + Partners, Apple Park is said to replace 5 million-square-feet of asphalt and concrete with grassy fields and over 9,000 native and drought-resistant trees. Powered by 17 megawatts of rooftop solar power and 100 percent renewable energy, Apple Park will be one of the largest on-site solar energy installations in the world. Apple also project the building to use natureal ventilation so that it will not require heating or air conditioning for nine months of the year.

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